Hello from the Virgina Piedmont!

frustratedearthmother said:

Hi and welcome from Texas! I'm going to throw this idea out there just because... Coturnix Quail. They are easy to raise. They are mature by 8 weeks and either laying eggs for you, or ready to hop in the freezer and as an added bonus - you can process one in about 5 minutes. I had them for a long time, decided to focus on chickens and now have decided to go back in that direction.

The ONLY drawback is that they do not go broody and hatch their own eggs so an incubator or a small broody hen is necessary. Oh, and a bacon wrapped breast is an absolute treat!

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I'm definitely no expert on the matter however I have researched extensively and have learned plenty. Still no match for experience but I still might be able to help people on BYH and BYC. Same with chickens, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, etc. Anyway, coturnix quail can and often do go broody if kept in a large enough pen on the ground because it feels like a more natural environment. Look up pavlovefowl, rabbitry girl, and dirtpatchheavan on youtube and you'll see each of them have/had their quail on the ground in a relatively big pen and had at least one go broody. Now, you will PROBABLY need an incubator or small broody hen because you can't count on them to brood frequently. However I think it's possible for them to go broody.

I think it would be cool to have somebody(me?) breed for broodiness in coturnix quail. Right now I'm just trying to get 'm to lay eggs but as soon as I can figure out how to get eggs constantly I'm gonna try and breed for color and then maybe for broodiness.

Just thought I should thro that out there. You are right however that they don't usualy go broody.

MW

@micah wotring

I have heard that it is possible - but I don't think I would want to try to raise them on the ground. I would worry about parasites and predation much more than if keeping them in suspended cages.

I have had one or two of the hens "go broody" in a cage situation, but they seem to not be terribly dedicated. They would sit for 4 or 5 days and then give up.

One of the reasons it's so nice to hatch in an incubator is because you can get almost as many babies as your incubator can hold. For me, it was always better to hatch out a fairly large number of chicks, because it's just as easy to raise 30 as to raise 3 and it's a much better use of my time to raise a 'batch' that can then be processed as a group. Also, a broody bird doesn't lay and the eggs are a wonderful by-product! I do love quail eggs!

I'm going to try some larger, communal type cages, when I get back into them. But, I'll still keep them off the ground. This is just how I want to do it. There are lots of other ways that work well for lots of other folks.

It would be kind of cool to see them raise their own young. I think you should give it a go and try to breed some broodiness back into them.

frustratedearthmother said:

@micah wotring

I have heard that it is possible - but I don't think I would want to try to raise them on the ground. I would worry about parasites and predation much more than if keeping them in suspended cages.

I have had one or two of the hens "go broody" in a cage situation, but they seem to not be terribly dedicated. They would sit for 4 or 5 days and then give up.

One of the reasons it's so nice to hatch in an incubator is because you can get almost as many babies as your incubator can hold. For me, it was always better to hatch out a fairly large number of chicks, because it's just as easy to raise 30 as to raise 3 and it's a much better use of my time to raise a 'batch' that can then be processed as a group. Also, a broody bird doesn't lay and the eggs are a wonderful by-product! I do love quail eggs!

I'm going to try some larger, communal type cages, when I get back into them. But, I'll still keep them off the ground. This is just how I want to do it. There are lots of other ways that work well for lots of other folks.

It would be kind of cool to see them raise their own young. I think you should give it a go and try to breed some broodiness back into them.

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Ok, i like the idea of an incubator too but if I can have a pen of 10 or 15 quail hens to hatch and raise my meat birds and a pen of 10 or 15 hens (and a couple roos) to produce eggs that would be cool. Well, as soon as I get hatching/raising down I'll look into genes and traits.

I like that idea too!

I've had the same issue as @frustratedearthmother my Coturnix never go broody! I've always had to use (borrow) an incubator.
@micah wotring Get raising those quails so we can see how it works for you

Welcome, I'm from Va, too!

There are a TON of rabbit equipment for sale right now all over VA. Lots of people are realizing how hard they are to deal with. Even I quit them, if I ever got them again, I would want to buy them cheap at weaning and feed em to plate.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Baymule said:

Welcome from Texas! Post pictures of your chickens!

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I have to try and get some good ones. iPad camera sux, and the birds never stay still for a good shot...

secuono said:

Welcome, I'm from Va, too!

There are a TON of rabbit equipment for sale right now all over VA. Lots of people are realizing how hard they are to deal with. Even I quit them, if I ever got them again, I would want to buy them cheap at weaning and feed em to plate.

Good luck and keep us posted!

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I've had rabbits twice before in Life - both colonies raised for meat. I've built hutches, but want to try to construct a lean-to against another building, put eyebolts in the rafters, and suspend wire cages from those - givng me room to push them aside a bit on their "swing" and rake out underneath for the veggie garden. I figure a buck and two does would stagger litters so I don't have to process so much at once. I can get NZs in several places arond here, but was reading about Altex bucks and wish I could find one closer to the Atlantic than Texas.
Quail are too small for me - same reason I don't eat squirrels. I have an incubator, and the Aruacanas go broody at times, too. It's a continuous re-supply system.
On another note - where I used to keep milk goats - I'm now not so spry enough to handle all the heavy stuff that goes along with hoofstock. But I look at my tall pasture-grass, and think it's being wasted not putting meat in my freezer. I was thinking that getting a couple feeder-lambs and letting them shear down that grass all season - and then putting them in the deep-freezer in late autumn - might be a good idea. That way I don't have to haul extra feed-sacks and hay-bales over the winter. When I was a youngster, lamb was my favorite red-meat - broiled chops or a roasted leg with the fell on, was like heaven! Then a decade or so ago, the price in the supermarket skyrocketed - and I haven't bought it since. It's always cheaper to grow it than pay the store for it, so I figured why let that grazing go to waste? I just have to know what's different between lambs and kids!

Well... since you have experience with dairy goats, have you considered the Nigerian Dwarf breed? Disclaimer: I have ND and thing they are the best animal on four hooves. (Rabbits have paws not hooves and rabbits are pretty close to being the best animal on paws.)

NDs are small, does 21" bucks a couple inches over that, and their short stature make them much easier to handle... even when the bucks are in full "crazy in love" state. Also with it just being you the milk production from just a couple does would keep you in diary and a couple does and a wether or two would love to tackle your overgrown vegetation problem. Their poop, like rabbit poop is garden ready right out of the animal.

Did I mention they are beyond cute... and tasty!